@mastodonmigration
A copy of twitter started by a founder of twitter turns out to be like twitter?
The processing and storage can be distributed, but it's centrally controlled. Not federated, nor distributed control.
If you set up a Bluesky server you are simply subsidising the Bluesky management.
@mastodonmigration one sec, fact checking this before I boost it, lemme see if I can find the owner or if it's actually secret
@mastodonmigration unless I'm missing something Jay is the CEO, i.e., owner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Graber
You are missing something. The CEO of a corporation is not the owner. She certainly has some equity (stock) in the corporation, but actual ownership is distributed among those who own it's stock (or debt/warrants). Bluesky has not been transparent about who these owners are and in what percentages. We know some things from press releases concerning their VC funding rounds, but not who really owns Bluesky or how they continue to fund their operations with no apparent revenue.
@mastodonmigration for the record I don't use bluesky, according to Wikipedia in addition to being the CEO she also owns the most equity
"Graber has the largest ownership share of the company. In late 2024, members of the board of directors included Graber, Jeremie Miller, Mike Masnick, and Kinjal Shah."
Those are all from old deliberately misleading press releases. Familiar with everything published on the subject, and nowhere is the ownership breakdown delineated. Further, there is no financial information at all available for the company, including no information concerning any revenue or burn rate. No information on any debts, convertable debt, or warrants. In truth, no authoritative public information on who owns Bluesky or how they continue to operate.
@mastodonmigration @jackie From what i can find without registering and asking for more info, they got Series B funding in 2025. They've had at least 22 investors.
See Bluesky funding rounds, investors, investments, exits and more. Evaluate their financials based on Bluesky's post-money valuation and revenue.
(www.cbinsights.com)
They are in part funded by
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/300219-22
We co-invest alongside VCs like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz & General Catalyst—no blind-pools or SPVs.
Alumni Ventures (www.av.vc)
Joe Beda is an angel investor. Use the CB Insights Platform to explore Joe Beda's full profile.
(www.cbinsights.com)
Bluesky has invested in https://www.cbinsights.com/company/sky-bridge
@jackie @mastodonmigration yeah that information is very, very outdated. It is purely based on what they say on their website FAQ which has not been updated in years despite the multiple funding rounds from venture capitalists they had afterwards which basically means they exchange equity in the company for investment.
It is very likely that not just Jay but also the team as a whole only own a minority of the company by this point.
@transicorn @mastodonmigration @jackie by the way that Series B is reported nowhere else other than that Pitchbook page as far as I know so I would say you should not treat it as confirmed. Had they really taken in $97 million in as investment back then they likely would have been shouting it from the rooftops instead of only a single website that tracks these things finding out.
Especially since it was reported that they were in talks back then but the close never was.
@ikuturso @mastodonmigration @jackie I certainly don't claim to know what's accurate or not, but that may or may not be a way to get more info. Am entirely unsure how easy it is to register, ask for info and receive it from any of the sites that seem to have some info but require registration.
Might be worth looking into though for anyone interested in trying.
Pitchbook reporting the Series B (while other resources do not) that the Business Insider article https://www.businessinsider.com/x-competitor-bluesky-valuation-new-funding-round-2025-1 intimated and then never followed up on is really curious. Can find no public mention of closing a series B.
Which, altogether makes the question of...
Who owns Bluesky?
...even more of a mystery.
Why is this so convoluted and hard to determine?
@mastodonmigration @ikuturso @jackie Well, i am here in Seattle where they are. I'll go knock on their door and ask.
🦄 . . . Brb
Get some audited finacials while you are at it. 🙋♂️
@mastodonmigration @ikuturso @jackie I'll ask for those too. Should go fine, usually wherever i go security guards or police like to stare at me so i'm sure they'll be all ears after asking why i'm there lol. ;)
@mastodonmigration https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_wa/605608574 there's probably a way to follow the paper trail upwards.
@mastodonmigration
Well, the initial investment was from Twitter. Could it have been the most important one?
Until the investment rounds run out, they need to find a way to monetize the platform. At some point, they’ll have to take the training wheels off the bike and start with ads or subscriptions. Maybe they’ll do it with a cryptocurrency, to make it feel more modern and fresh.
@mastodonmigration if you don't know who is the owner of a company it is most likely venture capital.
@mastodonmigration yeah it is. these people most likely don't care about it.
Bluesky is picking up one million new users every day at its current rate.
(www.bbc.com)
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